Harry Potter Exhibition: Behind-the-Scenes Q&A

This month, Hogwarts comes to New York City. The Harry Potter Exhibition—a must for any fan of the series—displays props, sets and artifacts from the decade-long production of the films, and the traveling show is now at the Discovery Center in Times Square. Eddie Newquist, chief creative officer of the firm Global Entertainment Services, took Popular Mechanics behind the scenes and explained how to build a museum exhibit with props that are still being used in filming.

How did the idea for the exhibition come about?

Right after the first film 10 years ago, people started talking about the idea of seeing some of these costumes, props and creatures on display. At the time, Warner Bros. couldn't do that because they were going right into production of the second film, the third film, the fourth film and so on.

Then, about four years ago, we decided that we should start thinking about doing a Harry Potter exhibition together. Once we got the concept down, we then had to start going through 10 years of costumes and props. They filmed in Leavesden Studios, right outside London, and they had saved everything, because a lot of things were being rolled over from one film to the next. So that was challengingright up until the end of shooting the last film, we were shipping things back and forth to ensure we had some of the latest and greatest elements on display, but also to ensure that they had them on set when they needed them.

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We started going through the artifactsand we do handle them as artifacts, with white gloves, because we want these [props] to last for the next hundred years. I think the film series has reached that Wizard of Oz treasure status, so we want to take care of every single thing. The only place in Leavesden that was large enough to lay everything out was the Great Hall. So we [brought] everything out there in between shooting, and tagged and inventoried everything.

Ten years' worth of props and costumes is a lot of stuff. How did you decide what to include?

We're fans, so we wanted things people would have an emotional connection to. We knew costumes were a big part of that. Harry's wand and glasses were critical, and his Marauder's Map. And there were a lot of little things placed within the exhibition that people get a kick out of, but they don't really get a chance to see on the screen. Like Gilderoy Lockhart's examsall of the questions are about him! It's hilarious when you read it, and you step back and you think [that the filmmakers] took the time to handwrite this to make sure it felt realistic. It was about making the films, and the world, that much richer.

There are some interactive elements in the exhibition, too, like sitting in Hagrid's giant chair, pulling up screaming baby Mandrakes and playing Quidditch.

Those were challenging for us. It took a number of months of trial and error to come up with Quaffles that felt like real Quaffles, that would be thrown like real Quaffles, that would move like real Quaffles, but could be handled and tossed by millions of people going through the exhibition. We used the original molds that were used to make the very first Quaffles, and we really worked with the filmmakers to ensure that they had all the right qualities but also were very durable.

We used the same molds and worked directly with Nick to create an exact replica of the Mandrakes. And we used the sound effects directly from the [film], so it feels like you're pulling up your own Mandrake.

So when you were bringing the props to the United States, how did you guys package them? How did they get here?

We ship them either by large containers overseas, or fly themit's all air-controlled, safe and secure. And then we literally travel the exhibition in about 16 semi trucks. They're all air-ride vehicles; we pay a lot of attention to making sure the temperature is appropriate. We have to watch the paper very carefully. If you were in the Great Hall [section] and you saw all the different designs for the Weasley candies, there is a lot of paper and hand-drawn [items]. We regularly work with the Warner Bros. archives[if there's a prop that's] fading a little bit, or we'd like to exchange this one for another one so it doesn't wear during the tour.

Which props did the crowds have the strongest reaction to?

Everybody's fascinated by the brooms. Pierre Bohanna, who made all the brooms throughout the whole film series, talked about using airplane metals and titanium within the brooms. People think of them as a prop the kids are carrying around, but in reality, they have to sit on them. They have to be mounted onto motion-control bases for green-screen shots and special-effects shots, so they have to be very thin and incredibly durable. Most of these kids weighed 80 pounds, 90 pounds [at the beginning]. Now they're all adults, so they're up over 120, 130 pounds, and you have to really make sure your brooms can withstand that.

There were some fun atmospheric tricks you used to bring visitors into the experience at Hogwarts.

We wanted to use the full arsenal of theatrics that our company regularly usesour team has more than nine patents that have been used at different theme park attractions. We wanted to bring the full arsenal of tools, if you will, to the exhibition. So we've got scent cannons, we've got hazers, we've got complete stereo sound-effect panning. When you go into Dark Forces, we're actually projecting Voldemort's voice across 30 feet of the exhibition, so he literally is whispering into your ear. We're using tricks of the trade from show control systems to lighting to video editing. Nothing is there to become so prominent it oversteps Harry Potter and Hogwarts. But I think they all add great enchantment to the overall guest experience.